Lake Lenticulars: Lenticular Wave Cloud Sunset at Lake Henshaw

Some nice lenticular wave clouds seen above Lake Henshaw on April 7, 2018.

As wind forces air over the top of mountains, it can force the formation of standing waves in the midst of that wind. As moist air rides up to the peak of the wave, it can condense in the cooler, higher atmosphere. These condensed peaks can stack on top of each other, and form lenticular clouds as seen here.

This is a single frame from the timelapse video I posted the other day.

Lake Henshaw is a Reservoir in San Diego County, California at the southeast base of Palomar Mountain, approximately 70 miles (110 km) northeast of San Diego, California and 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Los Angeles.

The lake covers approximately 1,140 acres (460 ha) and holds 55,000 acre feet (68,000,000 m3) of water when full (lowered in 1978 from its original capacity of 203,581 acre feet (251,113,000 m3) out of earthquake concerns), in addition to groundwater stored in its local basin. It drains an area of 207 square miles (540 km2) square miles at the source of the San Luis Rey River.

The lake was constructed in 1923 with the building of Henshaw Dam, an earth dam 123 feet (37 m) tall and 650 feet (200 m) long. It is owned by the Vista Irrigation District and used primarily for agricultural irrigation.